TIMING IS EVERYTHING, OR IS IT?

By Harry Nobles & Cheryl Thompson Griggs

It may be an overstatement to say that timing is everything.   In making so broad and absolute an assertion,  one implies that nothing else really matters.  While timing is important, it is only one of many elements of guest service.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that timing is a critical part of service delivery, and one that dramatically affects overall guest satisfaction.  One might argue that poor timing alone can denigrate or even spoil an otherwise excellent guest-employee interaction.

Timing is an important factor in all areas of hotel and restaurant service, from making the reservations through departure.  One area in which the timing of service delivery is particularly crucial is dining. In even a simple dining transaction, there are many things to be coordinated and orchestrated.  Imagine how much more complex this becomes when several guests are having a multi-course dinner in a fine restaurant. 

Simply stated the scenario includes arrival, initial greeting, seating, greeting by wait staff, water/bread service, beverage service, ordering of appetizers and main courses, dessert and/or after dinner drinks, check presentation, farewell, and departure.  The  coordination required to get the right dish to the right guest at the right time, and at the right temperature involves not only the wait staff, but kitchen staff as well. 

On recent consulting projects in Asia and Mexico, we were reminded how poor timing alone can adversely affect an otherwise excellent dining experience.  In several world class restaurants in Thailand we noted  the staff’s apparent inability to properly coordinate  simultaneous delivery of appetizers and main courses. 

A delay of several minutes between appetizers being served was not unusual.  The same was true of main course service.  It was not unusual for one guest’s order to be served very promptly, and the other’s to be served much later.  This was not always the case: timing was frequently excellent.   

A more  noticeable service flaw involved the offer of dessert and check presentation.  Service often literally ceased after the main course was served.  Heretofore attentive and professional staff appeared to forsake all attempts at follow up service at this point.  Repeated requests for beverage refill, the dessert menu, after dinner drinks, or the check often went unanswered. 

One might surmise that because the tip is often automatically included in the check has an adverse effect on service. Given the traditional Oriental attitude toward service, we came to a different conclusion

Our professional assessment of this phenomenon is that it may be more a bilateral cultural thing ..  In Thailand we noticed that the majority of western tourists were not American, but European.  While Europeans tend to dine at a more leisurely pace, the typical American guests are in more of a hurry to complete the meal, pay the check, and depart. The other cultural component is the Oriental concept of service and aversion to rushing the guest.  Despite the possible negative impression of slow service, one must admit that this is a refreshing change from the perception of being rushed by the wait staff to turn the table.

The Mexican experience was somewhat similar, particularly in regard to check presentation.  While guests’ orders were generally properly timed and served, service often waned after the main course.   We concluded their perceived delay in offering dessert  reflected  a hesitancy to  hasten the check settlement and guest departure.

We interpreted this as a cultural aversion to creating the impression that the guests were being rushed.  Again a welcome change from the too frequent sense of being rushed that one often encounters in many U.S. restaurants. 

In both situations, the “timing” problem might be at least partially solved by training the staff to more accurately read the guest and determine when additional service,  and ultimately the check, should be proffered.  This educational process must be achieved without denigrating  the current service level.  Employees must be trained to provide attentive and consistent, yet unobtrusive service that assures maximum guest satisfaction.   Timing is an important component of this type service;  guest observation and accurate interpretation of subtle messages are an essential part of timing.

These experiences and observations are intended to demonstrate and reinforce the premise that proper timing of service delivery is critical to guest satisfaction. If poor timing can detract from the level of guest satisfaction,  the obvious question is can excellent timing compensate for other service deficiencies?   Perhaps more precisely, how much can excellent timing compensate? 

Even the most perfect timing of service delivery cannot offset other service flaws.  An incorrectly prepared dish served with perfect timing by a most cordial and professional waiter is not improved. An incorrect room reservation accessed immediately by the most cordial desk clerk is still incorrect.  

If this be the case, what does proper timing accomplish?  In some cases, a well timed sincere comment or thoughtful action  can prevent a bad situation from becoming even worse.   Timing can sometimes bolster and enhance the illusion of a positive guest experience.  Timing may sometimes help to mollify a disgruntled guest.  While proper timing can never totally negate an unpleasant guest experience,  it can influence the guest’s attitude in a positive way.  

On the other hand, poor timing can ruin an otherwise excellent guest experience. Late delivery of a well prepared meal, slow response to a guest’s request, or failure to render any service promptly can have the unfortunate effect of canceling out all the things done well.

What are some components needed to achieve proper timing of guest service delivery?  Properly  timed service delivery requires training,  the proper equipment,  a positive attitude, and teamwork.  The absence of any one of these can make it very difficult if not impossible to achieve  proper timing.

What makes employees appreciate the critical importance of timing?  Employees’ attitude  toward guest service is greatly influenced by their  perception of management’s attitude.  If they perceive that management is serious about timely response to employee issues, they may well be more sensitive to timely response to guests’ needs.  The opposite is equally true.

What encourages and motivates  employees  to strive for excellent timing in every guest-employee interaction?   Reward and recognition can be very positive factors. 

Constant encouragement, effective training, and  required resources are also essential. 

In summary, an employee’s attitude toward the importance of  timing, and dedication to that goal will usually reflect the perceived message from management.

What message are you sending?

Harry Nobles & Cheryl Thompson Griggs

Website:   www.optimumrating.com

COMIN’ TO AMERICA

Article from the June issue of Lodging Magazine  
By James O'Brien & Monique van Stiphout

An overview of the U.S. Visas Available to foreign hotel workers

As tourism continues to rebound, the recruitment and retention of quality employees becomes increasingly important. Workers from outside the United States present both an excellent opportunity to supplement traditional sources of quality employees, and a challenge to properly manage the visa procurement process so that lawful employment authorization is secured.

U.S. visas are issued under a complex body of law. Before deciding to pursue an employee candidate from abroad, and certainly before extending an offer of employment to such a candidate, you will need to understand what visa categories are generally available and possible, and to what types of positions within hotel operations those visa categories can be applied.

F-1 Student: International students with F-1 student classifications may only accept on-campus employment during the first year of enrollment, and may not work more then 20 hours per week while school is in session. Following the first year, the student may engage in off-campus employment so long as it is employment for the purpose of practical training related to a course of study. In addition, students may engage in Optional Practical Training for 20 hours per week while school is in session and full-time after completion of all course requirements. While international students must obtain employment authorization from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service prior to engaging in OPT, this is the only employment-authorized visa category which does not require the hotel's sponsorship.

J-1 Exchange Visitor: J-1 exchange visitor visas are issued not by the INS, but through approved program sponsors. These organizations administer and maintain government-approved programs for the issuance of J-1 classifications, usually to entry-level and management-trainee personnel for the purpose of training and cultural exchange. The employment-authorized visa achieved through this program is the J-1 exchange visitor visa, which is valid for up to 18 months and can often be obtained rapidly, because it does not require INS processing.

L-1 Intracompany Transfers: The L-1 classification is available specifically to international hotel and hospitality companies seeking to transfer executive and managerial personnel to the United States. It also is available for international personnel who possess specialized knowledge of the organization's operations that is not readily available to the marketplace.

The primary requirements for the L-1 classification are that the U.S. and international organizations be related through common ownership. Once the relationship of the companies is established, the petitioning employer must show that the employee to be transferred has worked for it outside the United States for at least one year within the last three years. Furthermore, the employee must have worked in an executive, managerial, or specialized knowledge position.

The L-1 classification is valid for an initial period of three years. For executive and managerial employees, it may be extended incrementally for an additional four years. Specialized knowledge employees are limited to a maximum stay of five years.

Those companies which will be transferring a large number of international employees (10 or more per year) should consider creating a corporate-wide program known as an L-1 blanket petition. The L-1 blanket petition allows a company to establish once to the INS the corporate relationship among all of its U.S. and international operations. This one-time adjudication is accomplished by petition to the INS office with jurisdiction over the U.S. headquarters of the company. The INS will then issue a blanket petition that includes all of the existing locations where the petitioning company does business.

Once this petition is approved, the overseas employment requirement is reduced from one year to six months. In addition, individual employees being transferred to the United States apply for their visas directly at the appropriate U.S. embassy or consulate general. As a result of being able to bypass the INS, L-1 cases may generally be processed within one week to 10 days after the decision to transfer has been made. Equally important, the cost of such transfers is reduced, given that the corporate relationship is pre-approved

H-1B1 Professional Employee: The H-1B1 classification is available to sponsor individuals who are to be placed in positions considered to be “specialty occupations” or professional positions. In order to utilize the H-1B1 for a particular sponsorship, you must meet two main standards: The employment position must have as its minimum educational requirement a bachelor's degree in the appropriate field of study and the person sponsored must possess a bachelor's degree or its equivalent. There are other legal standards which apply as well, such as certifying to the U.S. Department of Labor that you are paying the prevailing wage for the position.

The H-1B1 classification is valid for an initial period of three years and may be extended for an additional three years. It authorizes employment only with the sponsoring hotel, although such classifications also may be transferred to other hotel properties through a new filing with the INS.

Unfortunately, the popularity of the visa with U.S. employers, and the INS's tendency to believe that the H-1B1 category is most applicable to IT workers, has caused an enormous slowdown of INS processing of such visas over the past several years, such that H-1B1 petitions which previously were approved in days or in just two to three weeks are now taking up to four or more months. In addition, the cap on the number of H-1B1 visas which may be granted each year is scheduled to drop from 195,000 to 65,000 per year in October 2003, creating even larger processing backlogs.

TN Professional Employee: The North American Free Trade Agreement provides for the admission of 63 qualifying professions for persons engaged in “business activity at a professional level.” INS regulations and processing times limit its use, for practical purposes, to Canadian citizens. This means that hoteliers can obtain U.S. employment authorization for Canadians by applying to the INS at the border for a “TN,” or Trade NAFTA, classification. The TN is a more narrowly interpreted version of the H-1B1, with two big advantages: TNs are not limited in the number that can be issued each year, and they are issued on-the-spot at the U.S. border. TNs also allow the qualification of an individual who lacks a four-year degree, where that person has at least an associate's degree and a minimum of three years of experience. The TN lacks the flexibility of the H-1B1, however.

H-2B Nonimmigrant Classification: The H-2B classification is designed to meet the one-time, seasonal, peakload, or intermittent needs of hotel properties and is the only visa classification that may be used for line-level positions within hotels. The H-2B nonimmigrant classification allows for the temporary admission of nonimmigrants to perform temporary service or labor if unemployed persons capable of performing such service or labor can be shown to be unavailable in the United States. An H-2B classification is valid for up to one year and may be extended through a repetition of the certification process. The ultimate maximum period of unbroken stay in the United States for an H-2B classification is three years.

In all visa-sponsorship applications, it is important for hoteliers to remember that, with few exceptions, the government views an employment-based visa application as the application of the employer, not the employee. Thus, it is extremely important that hotels and hotel companies develop company policies governing the procedures and conditions for visa sponsorship to ensure that all filings made on behalf of the company meet its standards of excellence and protect its reputation with the government.

James O'Brien is a partner, and Monique van Stiphout is a senior associate, at Krupin O'Brien, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm that represents the industry in labor, employment, business immigration, and related litigation. This article was excerpted from Lodging HR, a monthly publication of Lodging and AH&LA. The subscription rate is $109 annually for nonmembers; AH&LA members receive it free of charge as a member benefit.

TRENDS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, FRANCE, GERMANY, CANADA, USA

eTurbo.com   - Middle East - Consumers generally have a very short booking lead- time, and it is common for a travel decision to be made less than one week prior to departure. - Due to visa processing requirements the short lead- time - on bookings creates significant issues in the ability to issue appropriate visas in time for departure. - The peak travel planning and booking period is from May through to July, for the peak travel period from July to mid-September. - Many Middle East wholesalers and large retailers are developing their own Web sites. The ATC is targeting these agents to include Australian packages in addition to a link to the ATCÕ'sconsumer Web site.

France - French consumers are traditionally last minute planners with a short lead-time between booking and travel. - The French consumer still prefers to use a retail agent to make holiday arrangements. - Consumers are increasingly driven by airline deals and growing numbers book air fares direct through airlines. - Consumer confidence with online services and e- commerce is high and the French are happy booking and paying online.

Germany - German travellers are careful planners, seeking detailed information from a range of sources prior to departure. - The lead-in time for bookings is extensive due to planning, but as in other markets, the trend is towards shorter lead-times. - Germans are confident long-haul travellers. They shop around as part of their extensive planning process. - German consumers, while confident to research over the Internet, remain more comfortable purchasing long haul-travel via a travel agent in Germany. 

This report makes clear two trends: 1) the rapid growth in Internet and online bookings; and accompanying it 2) a sharp reduction in advance booking periods. Both these trends are set to have a significant impact on pricing strategies as suppliers struggle to balance the way they deal with their distributors/packagers and consumers. This choice is not an either/or endgame; suppliers have to deal with all potential buyers and distributors. The ticklish question is how best to do this in a way that does not irk the distributors/packagers while continuing to draw in the maximum number of direct-buyers. As the volume of direct-bookings increase, the pricing conundrum should work itself out, with all the implications that contains for the distributors/packagers, too.

Online booking trends in North America (In box) Canada - Seventy-six percent of Canadians still use travel agents to make reservations. However, few Canadians view agents as important influencers in destination choice or for information gathering. - Canadian consumers are highly value conscious and are motivated by good value deals. - Consumers are unlikely to purchase a full packaged tour, and prefer to arrange much of the optional component of their holiday while in Australia. They are independent and also feel they will get a better deal. - Studies show that the Internet is dramatically transforming the Canadian travel industry. Over half of Canadian Web users (59%) have used the Internet to retrieve travel information, while 18% have made some of their travel purchases online. 

The vast majority (92%) of those who have booked travel online say that they are now using traditional travel agents less because of the Internet. It is projected that over half of all Canadian adults could be using the Internet to book their travel by 2003. USA - The travel trade in North America is one of the most complex and certainly the largest in the world. The traditional retail and wholesale distribution systems continue to be in a state of flux because of amalgamations, new technology and alliances. 

The independent travel behaviour of the American traveller has contributed significantly towards the highly fragmented US distribution system. Each level of the chain can be bypassed for better price and service. This is being compounded as Internet usage for research and bookings increases. - The best approach for Pacific Asia operators to sell leisure travel products is through the travel trade distribution system i.e. through inbound tour operators, tour wholesalers and specialist travel agents.

The ATC will continue to expand its Internet marketing capabilities in North America and Internet applications will remain the main platform for marketing operations. In addition to its promotional capabilities the Internet aids in the distribution of information and the servicing of enquiries at low cost. Australia.com will continue to be developed as the primary resource for planning an Australian vacation and micro-sites such as gay.australia.com will also be developed to service segments of the American market. 

www.australia.com hosts around 250,000 unique visits per month from American consumers, delivering over 9 million pages in 2001. - The Aussie Travel Club has around 100,000 members who receive regular online newsletters outlining travel deals. - The best methods of gaining distribution for a product through Internet travel companies is through GDS listings and through wholesalers which provide the services and products for the Internet travel companies.

COSTA RICA: IS ‘FIVE-SAR ECOTOURISM’ POSSIBLE?

(IPS) - The new government of Costa Rica aims to expand and upgrade tourism infrastructure in the country to draw more affluent visitors who are interested in combining comfort and contact with nature, through a plan that is questioned by environmentalists. Tourism Minister Rubén Pacheco reported that the government's international marketing strategy would be modified in order to give a greater boost to tourism in Costa Rica, which is already the Central American country that receives the greatest number of visitors. 

''We will try to maintain our focus on the protection and conservation of nature, but we are going to change the idea that Costa Rica is just forest and jungle,'' he said. Pacheco explained to IPS that a new publicity campaign is being designed for implementation in the United States, Europe and several Latin American countries, to promote Costa Rica as a ''five-star tourism'' destination.

''Many people today think that going to Costa Rica means travelling to a region of gorgeous mountains and beaches, where they will have to sleep in tents or outside under the stars,'' he said. But the new National Tourism Plan not only invites visitors to camp out, but also to enjoy ''five-star hotels built in harmony with the environment,'' in the middle of lush jungles, he added.

Environmentalists, however, have expressed reservations with respect to the new tourism policy of the government of Abel Pacheco, who took office on May 8, arguing that the construction of luxury hotels and golf courses will necessarily have a heavy impact on natural ecosystems. '

'We think it is very good that the minister plans to support small hotels and ecotourism projects,'' but the country must continue to push its unspoiled natural beauty as its main attraction, biologist and university professor Jorge Lobo, with the Costa Rican Federation for Conservation of the Environment (FECON), told IPS. Pacheco, however, said the government's plan would also diversify the menu of options offered to visitors by promoting ''sustainable sun and sand'' tourism as part of the strategy to make the country one of the world's environmental leaders. In the past few years, Costa Rica has become a pioneer in ecotourism on the academic, business and legal fronts. In 1998, Costa Rica passed a law on biodiversity that is unique in the world. The law regulates the use of natural resources and protected areas, controls access to genetic resources, and foments education on the environment.

The biodiversity law has allowed the government and the private sector to establish a tacit alliance for promoting the country under the slogan ''no artificial ingredients.'' The new tourism minister now plans to take a qualitative leap with the National Tourism Plan, designed to ''attract select tourists who appreciate nature and will be able to enter into direct contact with the beach and the jungle, whether in rustic cabins or luxury hotels.'' 

Local authorities are keen on attracting tourists with more buying power, who also appreciate biodiversity. ''We don't want to become a Miami, that is not our goal,'' Pacheco clarified. He also noted that the plan currently being designed will establish tourism zones in the country where activities like opencast mining, drilling for oil and sex tourism will be expressly prohibited. Last year, tourism became Costa Rica's main source of foreign exchange, accounting for 1.3 billion dollars in revenues, equivalent to eight percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

According to official statistics, the tourism industry provides direct and indirect employment to between 140,000 and 150,000 people in this country of 3.8 million. Costa Rica is visited by around 1.1 million tourists a year, 25 percent of the combined total number of visitors to the seven countries of Central America. The government's goal is to increase the flow of arrivals to 1.5 million in the next four years, and to two million by 2012. Lobo, a professor at the University of Costa Rica, stressed that ''this country's comparative advantage is its unspoiled vegetation, without comfort. ''Many tourists from industrialised countries seek the adventure of living in nature, not the luxury of a five- star hotel,'' he pointed out.

Lobo believes that Pacheco is proposing a contradiction by arguing that it is possible to build luxury hotels in the middle of a jungle, without altering the surrounding ecosystem. ''A five-star hotel requires the removal of great amounts of earth and depends on enormous flows of electric energy, both of which have an impact on nature,'' said the spokesman for FECON, Costa Rica's leading network of environmental organisations. 

The brand of ecotourism offered by rustic hotels provides a greater benefit to visitors, who come into direct contact with the country's extraordinary biodiversity, as well as to local residents, who benefit from the money spent by the tourists, he said. Environmentalists complain that several large hotel chains that have established themselves here have caused damage to estuaries, mangroves and aquatic systems, although no environmental impact studies on the question have been carried out. The government of Abel Pacheco agrees with activists that the presence of large transnational hotel chains, which are generally held responsible for the greatest environmental damage, should be avoided. 

''The foundation for Costa Rica's development could lie in tourism,'' the general manager of the private Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals, (ACOPROT), Roberto Morales, told IPS. The businessman said the country, after becoming internationally renowned thanks to the promotion of ecotourism, must now build on its reputation and begin to offer sustainable ''sun and sand'' tourism. 

Morales underscored the level of development achieved by medium and small tourism operators, who provide more personalised service. Hotel capacity in small and medium-sized operations amounts to 32,000 rooms, he noted. Analysts with the private Central American Business Administration Institute (INCAE) told IPS that the Costa Rican economy could achieve greater growth if it does a good job of administering the tourism industry. 

But Lawrence Pratt, a U.S. economist with INCAE, stressed that Costa Rica virtually invented the concept of ecotourism in the world, and argued that sustainability must continue to be the industry's guiding concept. In resorts providing mass ''sun and sand'' tourism, like Mexico's Cancun and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, 10 cents of every dollar spent by tourists remain in the country, compared to 48 cents of every dollar in Costa Rica, said Pratt.

MANAGING A MERGER

Article from the June issue of Lodging Magazine

Interstate, Meristar join forces

Less than a week after rejecting an unsolicited bid from Shaner Hotel Group Limited Partnership, Interstate Hotels Corporation signed a definitive agreement to merge with MeriStar Hotels & Resorts in a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction valued at $260 million.

The new company combines two of the nation's three largest hotel management companies. Operating under the Interstate name, it will have more than 86,000 guestrooms in 412 hotels in North America and Europe.

The "new" Interstate will be headquartered in Washington, D.C., but will maintain a "significant operating presence" in Pittsburgh. MeriStar chairman/CEO Paul Whetsell and president/COO John Emery will continue to hold those positions in the new company; Interstate chairman/CEO Tom Hewitt will serve on the combined company's board of directors.

Talks between MeriStar and Interstate began shortly after the latter was spun off from Wyndham International in 1999, "but didn't really get serious until last summer," Emery says. The two sides were "pretty committed" to a deal before Shaner went public with its quest to acquire controlling interest in Interstate, and "the deal we proposed wasn't impacted in any way by Shaner's offer," Emery says. "We didn't view their deal as competing."

And, unlike the issues (and lawsuits) that resulted from Patriot American's 1998 acquisition of Interstate, all interested parties appear to be on board this time around. "We've had discussions with everyone impacted, and it appears everyone is fine [with the merger]," Emery says. "What people viewed five or 10 years ago as competing hotels are now, more and more, seen as complementary hotels."

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.

THEY’RE BACK - TOURISTS IN WASHINGTON DC

The Economist  -  Breathe a sigh of relief: tourists are once again returning to the nation's capital. Hotel vacancy rates are close to where they were last year. The Metro, DC's underground transit system, reported a record 700,000 passengers during the city's Cherry Blossom Festival in April.

Credit for this rebound goes to renewed patriotism, a $1m advertising campaign and discounted travel rates. A boost in American visitors has offset a projected 20% drop in foreign tourists, who typically make up 2.5m of the Washington area's 22m tourists. The region will not, however, be able to recover the estimated $1.25 billion in tourism revenue it lost last autumn, when tourism is usually at its peak.

Zoning out? Many residents in DC find the taxi pricing system, based on zones, frustrating: it can make the price of a ride unpredictable and sometimes unfair. Anthony Williams, DC's mayor, agrees. But his attempts to introduce a metre-based system was rejected by DC's Taxicab Commission in March. The city's cab drivers are of two minds about the issue. Some argue that the zone system favours passengers, as drivers get little benefit from sitting in traffic. Others worry that a metre system might reduce their income. Now the mayor is seeking to clip the commission's wings. He wants to reduce it to seven members, with shorter terms and a narrower remit. He would like a newly-created Office of Taxicabs to manage the training and licensing of drivers, and enforce the law.

A fare deal Though it is further away from the city, Baltimore- Washington International Airport (BWI) has leapfrogged Reagan National as the Washington area's most popular airport, with 38% of the region's air passengers. The airport credits lower fares, especially those peddled by Southwest Airlines, a budget carrier. Surprisingly, BWI is most popular among local passengers with the longest travel time to the airport-from northern Virginia, DC and its Maryland suburbs (rather than nearby Baltimore). A long drive is clearly a small price to pay for a cheaper fare.

SOURCE: The Economist